POETRY

The Grand Inquisitor

The Onion


The Grand Inquisitor

So this is the sacrifice-
You gave us such a gift
this gift of love and hate?

What did Satan really offer
in that lonely desert?
You do not know it, but I do.

I know You. I have seen Your face.
It is the face of doubt,
the face of the masses,

Do You really know
what to do with them?
That is the price you paid. That
was your sacrifice.

You do not know.
They do not know.
But the flock will come together again
and will submit once more.

They are scared children
and I will tell them that
that is the best way

Because that is the best way.
That is the key to their hearts.
That is the secret to being God.

We are your subjects, and you are our Savior.
But at my word, they will hate You.
If I tell them to, they will beat You and burn You
and nail You to another Cross.

Why? Because I know what You do not.
I have given what they want
and they love me for it
and I love them for it
and they are in my hands for it.

That is what Satan offered--
without free will, they must love you
and all they want is to have to love you.

You are their God. You are their ikon.
You are their crucifix.
You are their vague heaven and hell, faith and doubt,
condemnation and redemption.

But I, I am their Lord, here and now.
And their Lord giveth
and their Lord taketh away
and that's what they want.

Thou wilt come again in victory,
Thou wilt come with thy chosen,
proud and strong.

But I will say that they have only saved themselves,
but I have saved all.
Tomorrow, I shall burn thee.


The Onion

What is redemption?
What have I to show
fir an eternity here
in this wicked town,
this wicked life?

I must be cleansed.
I must be pulled
from this lake of fire.

Fire. Fire.
I can feel it now.
I can feel the
horrible things I've done.

I can feel how it's
consumed my mind.
This town, this life--
I am them. They are me.

I feel sick. I feel sick.
What is redemption?
Have I ever earned it?
Angel, my angel, have I earned it?

You're watching me die.
I see you from here.
You are a glance from God,
a glimpse of redemption--

I have done something good.
I must have done something. Anything.

Find me my mercy.
Find me my salvation.
Find me my hope, find me anything.

--I can hear you from here!
My angel, angel!
"She once pulled up an onion
in her garden and gave it to a beggar woman."

Tell Him, Tell Him!
The onion will not break!
My God, my God,
I can be pulled from this fire.
I must be pulled from this fire!

I can be cleansed,
I can be redeemed.
There is a heaven
for the mobs in the mire.

I am wicked,
but I once gave a woman an onion.
With an onion
I have found Paradise.


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